George Cruikshank’s Life, Times and Art

Volume I of George Cruikshank’s (1792-1878) biography, the political and social artist who became representative of his age.

The etchings and wood-engravings of George Cruikshank (1792-1878) recorded, commented on and satirised his times to such an extent that they have frequently been used to represent the age. Cruikshank, a popular artist in the propaganda war against Napoleon, an ardent campaigner for Reform and Temperance, and the foremost illustrator of such classics as Grimms’ Fairy Tales, The etchings and wood-engravings of George Cruikshank (1792-1878) recorded, commented on and satirised his times to such an extent that they have frequently been used to represent the age. Cruikshank, a popular artist in the propaganda war against Napoleon, an ardent campaigner for Reform and Temperance, and the foremost illustrator of such classics as Grimms’ Fairy Tales, Scott’s novels and Dicken’s Oliver Twist, is known for his versatility, imagination, humour and incisive images. His long life, marked by a ceaseless struggle to win recognition for his art, intersected with the lives of many of Britain’s important political, social and cultural leaders. In this first volume of Robert Patten’s two-volume biography, which covers the artist’s Regency caricatures and early book illustrations, Patten demonstrates the ways in which Cruikshank was, as his contemporaries frequently declared, the Hogarth of the nineteenth century. Having reviewed over 8,500 unpublished letters and most of Cruikshank’s 12,000 or more printed images, Patten gives a thorough and reliable account of the artist’s career. He puts Cruikshank’s achievement into a variety of larger contexts – publishing history, political and cultural history, the traditions of figuration practised by Cruikshank’s contemporaries, and the literary and social productions of nineteenth century Britain. This biography provides both the general reader and the specialist with a wealth of new information conveyed in lively, non-technical prose. Patten’s book contributes to current investigation of the rich interactions between high art and low, texts and pictures, politics and imagination. Scott’s novels and Dicken’s Oliver Twist, is known for his versatility, imagination, humour and incisive images. His long life, marked by a ceaseless struggle to win recognition for his art, intersected with the lives of many of Britain’s important political, social and cultural leaders. In this first volume of Robert Patten’s two-volume biography, which covers the artist’s Regency caricatures and early book illustrations, Patten demonstrates the ways in which Cruikshank was, as his contemporaries frequently declared, the Hogarth of the nineteenth century. Having reviewed over 8,500 unpublished letters and most of Cruikshank’s 12,000 or more printed images, Patten gives a thorough and reliable account of the artist’s career. He puts Cruikshank’s achievement into a variety of larger contexts – publishing history, political and cultural history, the traditions of figuration practised by Cruikshank’s contemporaries, and the literary and social productions of nineteenth century Britain. This biography provides both the general reader and the specialist with a wealth of new information conveyed in lively, non-technical prose. Patten’s book contributes to current investigation of the rich interactions between high art and low, texts and pictures, politics and imagination. The etchings and wood-engravings of George Cruikshank (1792-1878) recorded, commented on and satirised his times to such an extent that they have frequently been used to represent the age. Cruikshank, a popular artist in the propaganda war against Napoleon, an ardent campaigner for Reform and Temperance, and the foremost illustrator of such classics as Grimms’ Fairy Tales, The etchings and wood-engravings of George Cruikshank (1792-1878) recorded, commented on and satirised his times to such an extent that they have frequently been used to represent the age. Cruikshank, a popular artist in the propaganda war against Napoleon, an ardent campaigner for Reform and Temperance, and the foremost illustrator of such classics as Grimms’ Fairy Tales, Scott’s novels and Dicken’s Oliver Twist, is known for his versatility, imagination, humour and incisive images. His long life, marked by a ceaseless struggle to win recognition for his art, intersected with the lives of many of Britain’s important political, social and cultural leaders. In this first volume of Robert Patten’s two-volume biography, which covers the artist’s Regency caricatures and early book illustrations, Patten demonstrates the ways in which Cruikshank was, as his contemporaries frequently declared, the Hogarth of the nineteenth century. Having reviewed over 8,500 unpublished letters and most of Cruikshank’s 12,000 or more printed images, Patten gives a thorough and reliable account of the artist’s career. He puts Cruikshank’s achievement into a variety of larger contexts – publishing history, political and cultural history, the traditions of figuration practised by Cruikshank’s contemporaries, and the literary and social productions of nineteenth century Britain. This biography provides both the general reader and the specialist with a wealth of new information conveyed in lively, non-technical prose. Patten’s book contributes to current investigation of the rich interactions between high art and low, texts and pictures, politics and imagination. Scott’s novels and Dicken’s Oliver Twist, is known for his versatility, imagination, humour and incisive images. His long life, marked by a ceaseless struggle to win recognition for his art, intersected with the lives of many of Britain’s important political, social and cultural leaders. In this first volume of Robert Patten’s two-volume biography, which covers the artist’s Regency caricatures and early book illustrations, Patten demonstrates the ways in which Cruikshank was, as his contemporaries frequently declared, the Hogarth of the nineteenth century. Having reviewed over 8,500 unpublished letters and most of Cruikshank’s 12,000 or more printed images, Patten gives a thorough and reliable account of the artist’s career. He puts Cruikshank’s achievement into a variety of larger contexts – publishing history, political and cultural history, the traditions of figuration practised by Cruikshank’s contemporaries, and the literary and social productions of nineteenth century Britain. This biography provides both the general reader and the specialist with a wealth of new information conveyed in lively, non-technical prose. Patten’s book contributes to current investigation of the rich interactions between high art and low, texts and pictures, politics and imagination. The etchings and wood-engravings of George Cruikshank (1792-1878) recorded, commented on and satirised his times to such an extent that they have frequently been used to represent the age. Cruikshank, a popular artist in the propaganda war against Napoleon, an ardent campaigner for Reform and Temperance, and the foremost illustrator of such classics as Grimms’ Fairy Tales, The etchings and wood-engravings of George Cruikshank (1792-1878) recorded, commented on and satirised his times to such an extent that they have frequently been used to represent the age. Cruikshank, a popular artist in the propaganda war against Napoleon, an ardent campaigner for Reform and Temperance, and the foremost illustrator of such classics as Grimms’ Fairy Tales, Scott’s novels and Dicken’s Oliver Twist, is known for his versatility, imagination, humour and incisive images. His long life, marked by a ceaseless struggle to win recognition for his art, intersected with the lives of many of Britain’s important political, social and cultural leaders. In this first volume of Robert Patten’s two-volume biography, which covers the artist’s Regency caricatures and early book illustrations, Patten demonstrates the ways in which Cruikshank was, as his contemporaries frequently declared, the Hogarth of the nineteenth century. Having reviewed over 8,500 unpublished letters and most of Cruikshank’s 12,000 or more printed images, Patten gives a thorough and reliable account of the artist’s career. He puts Cruikshank’s achievement into a variety of larger contexts – publishing history, political and cultural history, the traditions of figuration practised by Cruikshank’s contemporaries, and the literary and social productions of nineteenth century Britain. This biography provides both the general reader and the specialist with a wealth of new information conveyed in lively, non-technical prose. Patten’s book contributes to current investigation of the rich interactions between high art and low, texts and pictures, politics and imagination. Scott’s novels and Dicken’s Oliver Twist, is known for his versatility, imagination, humour and incisive images. His long life, marked by a ceaseless struggle to win recognition for his art, intersected with the lives of many of Britain’s important political, social and cultural leaders. In this first volume of Robert Patten’s two-volume biography, which covers the artist’s Regency caricatures and early book illustrations, Patten demonstrates the ways in which Cruikshank was, as his contemporaries frequently declared, the Hogarth of the nineteenth century. Having reviewed over 8,500 unpublished letters and most of Cruikshank’s 12,000 or more printed images, Patten gives a thorough and reliable account of the artist’s career. He puts Cruikshank’s achievement into a variety of larger contexts – publishing history, political and cultural history, the traditions of figuration practised by Cruikshank’s contemporaries, and the literary and social productions of nineteenth century Britain. This biography provides both the general reader and the specialist with a wealth of new information conveyed in lively, non-technical prose. Patten’s book contributes to current investigation of the rich interactions between high art and low, texts and pictures, politics and imagination.

Robert L. Patten is a professor of English at Rice University. He is the author of Charles Dickens and His Publishers and of many essays on Cruikshank and Dickens. This project received support from the Guggenheim Foundation, the National Endowment for the Humanities Center, the Centre for Advanced Study in the Visual Arts at the National Gallery of Art, and the Swann Foundation for Caricature and Cartoon.

• By (author) Robert L Patten

"They illustrate the close connection between archaeology, architectural history, historical geography and economic history which runs throughout the book and is the hall-mark of the Deserted Medieval Village Group.R. H. C. Davis in The English Historical Review, Vol. 88, No. 349, October, 1973, pp. 886-887 This volume examines the uses to which Cruikshank put his remarkable skills of delineating frenetic action, agitated and contorted extremities, phrenological types contrasted in superimposed rows or in overcrowded rooms, and political leaders driven diabolically to undermine the state." Carl Woodring in The Wordsworth Circle, Vol. 25, No. 4, Autumn, 1994, pp. 228-229 "Ultimately, it is to be highly recommended to the general reader, both as a study of an individual and for the picture of a London in transition which emerges, while, together with the forthcoming second volume, it will be appreciated by the student of nineteenth-century book illustration and of the nineteenth-century printing and publishing trades." Eirwen Nicholson in History, Vol. 78, No. 254, October, 1993, pp. 521-522 "Master of both the medium and the message, Patten delves into the technical, the business, the historical, the aesthetic, and the comic aspects of Cruikshank's work from the early 1800s to the First Reform Bill. His grasp of the etcher's technique seems as firm as his knowledge of Cruikshank's myriad business deals with publishers, printers, and writer." L. Perry Curtis Jr., in Victorian Studies, Vol. 38, No. 2, Winter, 1995, pp.279-282 "If the 'times' element is less complete and satisfactory than the analysis of Cruikshank's life and art, Patten's Cruikshank is much more than a useful reference work for a most prolific and versatile artist." Marc Baer in Print Quarterly, Vol.10, No. 3, 1993, pp. 295-296 "To read the first volume of Robert Patten's new biography of George Cruikshank is to find the treasure that visitors to the labyrinthine ways of nine-teenth-century graphic art search for: a thorough, accurate, entertaining guide that provides a new perspective, not only on Cruikshank, but on matters as diverse as the aesthetics and the politics of caricature." Patricia Marks in Victorian Periodicals Review, Winter, 1994, Vol. 27, No. 4, Winter, 1994, pp.377-380 "Professor Patten conveys a wealth of information, including the most detailed notes on print and publication, without abandoning either enthusiasm or judgement." Quentin Blake in RSA Journal, December 1992, Vol. 141, No.5435, pp. 57-58
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